has anyone make their own filter before. I am looking to make one from my 75 gallon tank. Anyone have any thoughts?
DIY filter?
- Thread starter born2lovefish
- Start date
I built a closed circuit canister for my 90. In all honesty I bet it would have enough capacity to run a 400 gal tank with no problem. I managed to get my hands on a 45 gal PVC tank; which I then filled with lava rock, and ran 3/4” flex PVC too. Running the thing is a “little giant” pump; however after some discussion with various people next time I think I am going to pinch a hot tub pump; they are UBER quiet and are more than able to get the job done… not to mention if you ever want to flush the system out you can set them to high…
Your best bet if your going to follow this design is to find a local plastic tank manufacturer; (seems every city has quite a few) then figure out the dimensions you can accommodate; and your set! A friend of mine just picked up a 100 gal tank for $130. 130 gallons of filtration should get the job done I hope!!!
So out of curiosity why are sumps so popular? Are they REALLY that much better than a big canister?
Your best bet if your going to follow this design is to find a local plastic tank manufacturer; (seems every city has quite a few) then figure out the dimensions you can accommodate; and your set! A friend of mine just picked up a 100 gal tank for $130. 130 gallons of filtration should get the job done I hope!!!
So out of curiosity why are sumps so popular? Are they REALLY that much better than a big canister?
I'm in the process of making making a Uber huge sump, its up and running now, just need to add some more things to it.
It consists of ~5g of pot scrubbers and 10-15g of lava rock. Also going to incorporate a submersed veggie filter as well as a emersed veggie filter.
It consists of ~5g of pot scrubbers and 10-15g of lava rock. Also going to incorporate a submersed veggie filter as well as a emersed veggie filter.
So here is what I have been wondering. What if i get a piece of like 6 inch PVC. Then put caps on both ends. Then thread in a barbed piece in each end. One for the water going in and one for it going out. The one cap would actually be a service cap. Then I would take a pump I have and hook it up. I would fill the PVC with bio balls. My question is will this work. Do you think the bacteria will have enough O2 in the filter? Thanks
Yes, it will work. Yes there will be enough oxygen as long as the pump is pushing water adequately. The pump is the costly part, the container can be anything.
Actually the pump is cheap. I have a extra one I use to use for automatic water changes at my old house. It was plumped into a 70 gallon water tank. Now I want to use the pump for make a filter. Is it possible to have too high of a flow rate for the bio balls?
I’m good at DIY projects. I’ve built most of my tanks and of all of my stands/hoods.
I once though I built the ultimate diy canister filter. I spent about $100 on it, but I retired it after about 2 months though. It worked, but it was ugly, it was difficult to maintain, and I didn’t trust that it would never leak. I chalked it up as a learning experience. I now know where to put the limit in DIY. DIY is great if you can build something that is better than what is at the LFS. If I'm just trying to save a few measly dollars by DIY, then DIY is not worth it. Filters are inexpensive, there is no major $ savings in DIY.
If you have money to burn, and can afford to make mistakes, then try a DIY Filter, but the aesthetics of DIY filters is reason alone to not DIY.
I once though I built the ultimate diy canister filter. I spent about $100 on it, but I retired it after about 2 months though. It worked, but it was ugly, it was difficult to maintain, and I didn’t trust that it would never leak. I chalked it up as a learning experience. I now know where to put the limit in DIY. DIY is great if you can build something that is better than what is at the LFS. If I'm just trying to save a few measly dollars by DIY, then DIY is not worth it. Filters are inexpensive, there is no major $ savings in DIY.
If you have money to burn, and can afford to make mistakes, then try a DIY Filter, but the aesthetics of DIY filters is reason alone to not DIY.